- A new analysis alleges the Trump administration is carrying out a more than $1 billion scam on immigrants, labeling it the “largest fraud in the history of the U.S. immigration system.”
- The Cato Institute study claims the administration collected fees for immigration petitions from citizens of 92 countries but froze their applications without processing them, often refusing to issue denials.
- The alleged fraud stems from policies including an expanded travel ban, a freeze on immigration benefit applications, and a State Department policy pausing visa processing for 75 countries.
- These restrictions affect people from countries that account for half of all legal immigrants to the U.S., imperiling an estimated 2 million applications.
- Critics argue the policies, which disproportionately impact non-white populations, are based on false pretenses regarding welfare use and resemble 1920s-era racial immigration quotas, prompting a lawsuit from advocacy groups.
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